Ranma: Hour of Chaos
by ClanCrusher
Summary: A mysterious scroll whisks Ranma away from Nerima and into the Netherworld. A Ranma and Disgaea crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This computer is stolen my life is shot. Don't sue me cause money I have not.

A/N: Forgive me if this seems like bragging but I believe that this story is the first of its kind. I hope that you enjoy this crossover fic. This takes place after the failed wedding.

Shout out to all you avid gamers out there.

Italics Means Thinking 

It was another boring day at school (by Nerima standards anyway) and the pleasant warmth of the afternoon sun found Ranma sitting under a tree, staring intently at the second hand of a watch.

_Lets see, Shampoo and Ukyo should be here in 5…4…3…2…1…_

SMASH! A section of wall near the tree caved in, scattering rubble everywhere.

"Aiyah! Shampoo have too too good lunch for Airen!"

SMASH! Another section of wall, 1 foot away from the first hole, also collapsed.

"Get away from my Ranchan you hussy!"

_When did I ever belong to you? _Ranma thought irritably.

Ranma ignored the two food fighting girls and concentrated on his watch again.

Hmm…Akane should be coming here in 3…2…1… "Ranma! Get back here and eat the lunch I made for you!" Guess who shouted that? 

Ranma's attention didn't waver from his watch as he danced around the girls attempts at trying to force feed him there food (and in one case toxic waste).

Rival appearance in 4…3…2…1… 

A third section of wall collapsed showing Ryoga with his titanium umbrella and overlarge pack.

"Ranma how dare you refuse Akane's cooking. Prepare to die!"

_Wow this thing is really accurate. Wonder why I didn't think of this before._

Ranma choose not to respond to Ryoga's battle cry . Instead he grabbed Akane's 'lunch' and blocked Ryoga's downward swing. The umbrella Ryoga had attacked with snapped in half and Ranma clonked Ryoga on the head with the 'lunch' for an instant K.O.

Throwing the shapeless mass of matter off to the side (where it started to crawl off on its own) Ranma returned to his watch, counting down the seconds once again.

_2…1…Cue Moouse._

"Ranma Saotome how dare you steal Shampoo from me. Prepare to die!" 

Moouse promptly unloaded a barrage of chains onto the unfortunate lunch that was still crawling away from the battle scene. Said lunch somehow sprouted teeth and attacked Moouse.

_Man, you'd think they would come up with some new lines at least. Oops, almost forgot the guest appearance right about…Now!_

All of a sudden there was a flash of light and a small girl with a mallet appeared, She took the hammer off her back and began to smash the unfortunate lunch that Akane had prepared several times, finally making it disappear.

The girl made a victory pose, "Level 5 bug eliminated!" and she vanished in a flash of light.

Well that was a lucky break. Now for the grand finale! "RANMA NO BAKA!" screamed Akane, "How dare you refuse to eat my luch!" 

She summoned her mallet and launched Ranma into the LEO. Ranma let the mallet hit him. If he blocked he would never have been able to escape the 'lunch crowd' as Ranma liked to call it. Briefly looking down at the ground falling away Ranma leaned back in midair and put his hands behind his head, drifting off to sleep.

Some time later Ranma woke up from his sleep. Somewhere a voice was saying, "Thank you for riding Akane Airlines. Exits are located directly beneath you."

Ranma yawned and stretched, preparing himself for the landing. Checking his watch he found that he had been in the air for about a half hour. Looking at his landing and finding it normal he shielded himself for impact.

CRASH!

The crater that he made on impact would have made even the Z fighters raise an eyebrow. Even more impressive was that Ranma instantly got up from it.

Looking around Ranma saw that his watch lay in pieces, various parts scattered throughout the landing sight.

Ranma scratched his head in thought, "Oh yeah! That's why I don't use a watch anymore!"

Dusting himself off, Ranma crawled out of the crater and took stock of his surroundings. From the frequent abuse of his fiancée Ranma had gotten quite familiar with the geography of Japan. It helped that he usually had an eagle eye view.

_Hmm, this must be Juban again. Oh well, considering where she normally hits me this is quite normal._

Ranma thought back on all of the other times Akane had malleted him…

**Flashback:**

They were loosing and Usagi knew it. They had tried everything but their tactics just weren't working, even with all of the senshi, minus Pluto, they were just managing to stay out of the way of lethal blows.

The monster, which looked vaguely humanoid, was just playing with them right now as he shrugged off the attacks of the senshi while stalking towards Usagi. Usagi covered her eyes, this time there would be no one to help them at the last second.

CRASH!

A red and black blur soared through the air and flew straight through the Youma's chest, killing it instantly. The blur continued onto the pavement making a huge crater. In the newly formed crater there was a boy with black hair

**End Flashback:**

Ranma shuddered. He still remembered some of those girls were almost as forward as Shampoo with their affections. However that meeting was nothing compared to the other time he encountered them…

**Flashback:**

He was heading straight towards a fairly large house and judging by the windows it was probably the bathroom.

_Only Akane could have such dumb luck._

SMASH! 

Setsuna was nearly blasted off her feet as the bathroom wall caved in from a sudden impact by a speeding martial artist. On instinct she transformed into her senshi uniform preparing an attack.

**End Flashback:**

That woman still sent shivers up Ranma's spine when he thought about her. She addressed him in a perfectly neutral voice asking who the hell he was and why he was in her bathroom. Ranma declined to answer, rather opting for the Saotome final technique.

In later meetings she had somehow deemed him a threat to something called 'Sapphire Tokyo' or something like that and had constantly tried to kill him whenever he was malleted around Juban.

By the far the weirdest one however…

**Flashback:**

"Mihoshi! Something has appeared on the radar!" Kiyone shouted.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"It's a projectile of some sort! Hurry, we have to move out of the way!"

However the object came in too fast for them to dodge and tore through their shields and the titanium hold of their ship landing right on the bridge.

"Its… a boy?"

**End Flashback**

Fortunately they didn't make him get out and walk back. He had been able to hitch a ride back to the Tendo Dojo in time for dinner. However, later that evening…

**Flashback:**

Ranma was once again on a trip to god knows where. He was currently passing over a forest.

_Looks like a clean landing._

That thought died a slow and painful death as he saw a shrine out in the middle of the woods. Bracing himself for impact Ranma smashed into the house like a bullet. He instantly got up and dusted himself off.

Looking around he found he was in some type of lab with all manner of advanced technology.

After a few moments of staring Ranma felt another pair of eyes on the back of his head and turned to find himself being stared at by a small red headed girl.

The girl broke the silence first, "This lab is in a sub-dimensional pocket surrounded by the most potent security systems known to the universe trained to attack any un-authorized persons within this lab. How the hell did you get in here?"

**End Flashback**

THAT woman sent him into a full body shiver. After the introductions were finished she started mumbling something about a guinea pig. Ranma quickly made his escape, feeling that he had just avoided certain doom.

Of course there were several other cases like the time she had hit him to that Hinata Inn or something like that. He never wanted to go there again.

In truth, he was starting to get really annoyed with Nerima and all of the BS that came along with it. Heck, the events earlier today proved it, his life was like a script, his destiny written out, he even had his life down to the second for christ sake.

He thought about his fiancées. Ukyo was a generally good person but she was always pressing for a more personal relationship and refusing to believe that Ranma wanted to just remain friends.

Shampoo was… Shampoo. Always up to some drug or potion, always latching on to him like a barnacle and always calling him Airen. Any affection he may have had for the girl had died when she started using underhanded tricks to try and win Ranma over.

Akane, Ranma hated to admit, was the worst of the three. Constantly abusive and constantly mistrusting and a trigger happy temper. Shampoo and Ukyo would at least sometimes give Ranma the benefit of the doubt of a compromising situation… sometimes. Akane just fell back on her old method of handling a situation, blame everything on Ranma and mallet him when he tried to put up a good aruguement.

Kodachi? Lets not go there…

_Maybe I need a change of scenery. _He mused, _I probably cant go anywhere Nabiki cant track me to so the only answer is…_

Ranma unconsciously took a left towards a magic shop he visited occasionally when he was still searching for a cure to his curse. He had long since given up on finding anything in this shop but he still visited occasionally.

Giving a small wave to the owner he started to browse the unique magic section. His eyes lingered on a small dusty scroll with a label that read 'Unclassified and Possibly Dangerous.'

Picking it up Ranma took it to the front of the shop. He had taken several of these types of scrolls from the shop, usually identifying what they were with help from Kuh-Lon. One scroll contained a one-use holy bolt that destroyed a rouge demon that Happosai had released while another had teleported Ranma straight into the girls side of the public bathhouse.

"Just this today?" asked the manager.

"That's all Tom." Ranma replied to the wizened old man.

As Ranma was digging in his pockets the front of the store suddenly exploded in a shower of glass and wood.

"There is the threat to crystal Tokyo! Get him!"

"Looks like the outers showed up. Sorry Tom, I promise to pay you back!"

Ranma grabbed the scroll and cracked the seal and with a bright flash of light… he was gone.

A/N: My longest prologue to date, and a cliffhanger to boot. This is still going to be a Disgaea crossover, the other mentions in this story are probably going to stay as one-shots.

Remember, I really want your reviews so please drop me a line.

Cheers.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Oh wait a sec, wrong story.

A/N: Wow. I'm surprised how many reviews this story managed to pull in on the first chapter. Thank you to all of you who responded. Oh and for those of you who are curious, Disgaea is currently at Episode 7 and the Ranma series is placed 1 year after the failed wedding.

A bright flash and a temporal flux in the space time continuum (or some other scientific mumbo jumbo that no one cares about) heralded the coming of the ultimate chaos factor.

Unfortunately for said chaos factor, he appeared upside-down and landed on his head.

Ranma quickly got up and looked around, hoping no one saw him.

The landscape was barren and desolate. Ranma noted to himself that it looked a lot like the post apocalyptic world he had been transported to once, where he had met some insanely strong fighters named veggie something and carrot.

Finally Ranma spotted a sign; WELCOME TO THE NETHERWORLD PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE DEMONS 

'Okay, so I'm in hell. This cant possibly get any worse.'

Famous last words.

--------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------

Laharl was bored. And a bored, adolescent, demonic, teenager was not a good combination. Oh sure, he was overlord and all that but now there was nothing to do. The last piece of action he saw was at the heart of evil where he fought Mid-Boss the last time.

'If something interesting doesn't happen soon I'm gonna scream' Laharl thought to himself.

Ask and ye shall receive.

"Prince! Something interesting just happened!" Deamoness Etna shouted.

_Bout time._

"I told you I am the OVERLORD!"

"Details, details."

Etna was a piece of work. She had red hair tied up in two pig tails along with a pair of small wings and tail that marked her as a demon. She also had a skulls head earring on one of her pointed ears and an outfit that threw every meaning of decency out the window.

"I'm not a detail," growled Laharl murderously.

"Whatever. Anyway, the dimensional gatekeeper said that there was a huge disturbance in the stellar graveyard."

That was another thing about her. Although Etna was technically his vassal he sometimes wondered who was really running the show.

"The stellar graveyard again? Probably just more space junk."

"Laharl! We should check to see if there are any survivors! They may need help."

_Uh Oh, Flonne's in on this now._

Flonne was an angel from Celestia, the city of angels. She had been ordered to assassinate Laharl's father who had died 2 years before the order was given. To this day Laharl wondered why the Seraphim had sent **her**. It didn't seem like she could even assassinate a fly without some moral conflict.

She was an eccentric person, the perfect Angel stereotype always preaching about love and kindness saying that 'Demons can love too.' And she had stayed with Laharl to try and prove it.

Laharl had taken her on as a vassal to show her life's unpleasant realities or as he liked to put it, "Burn a true vision of horror into that empty little head of hers."

She still hadn't changed.

Laharl knew a lost cause when he saw it. Netherworld hath no fury like an angel scorned and he knew better than to argue with her. Every time he tried he always ended up loosing.

Sighing, he hopped off his throne and shouldered his broadsword, "Fine we'll go. Need something to do anyway."

Walking through the various hallways of the castle they finally came to the dimensional gate.

"Hey prince!"

Laharl looked and spotted a raggedly looking zombie, one of his fathers vassals.

"What do you want Zommie?"

"Oh I just wanted to tell you that our castle mages picked up a huge energy signature in the Stellar Graveyard. If your going there you might want to take some backup. Just FYI"

"You know, you could always help me."

"You kidding right?"

Grumbling something about stupid zombies knowing their place Laharl turned to Etna and sighed.

"Etna, we're going to need the Prinny Squad."

"Do you know where they are?" she asked.

"There's only one place that they would go."

A few minutes later Laharl, Etna, and Flonne stood outside one of the stores in the castle.

"Don't worry," said Etna in a disturbingly cute voice, "Ill get them." Shouldering her giant axe she entered the store.

BANG! CRASH! SMASH!

The front window on the store exploded in a shower of glass and three penguin like creatures flew out, slamming into the wall behind Flonne.

Etna stood in the remainder of the window with her cleaver in her hands.

"Drink coffee on your break time!" she shouted.

The prinnies immediately shook off their concussions and saluted before following Etna to the dimensional gate.

Laharl took one last look at the store before following Etna.

_Damn Starbucks. How the hell did they convince us to open a branch down here?_

It did get worse.

Ranma had been walking for exactly one hour and already he was starting to hate this place. He had been ambushed twice by various low-level demons and he was getting hungry. The desolate landscape was devoid of any life and lacking a lunch from earlier, he was starting to get loud complaining noises from his stomach.

_Well, looks like I'm on my own for this one. Just me against the Netherworld._

His stomach growled again.

_Ok, us against the netherworld._

Ranma jumped to the top of another low hill, trying to get a view of his surroundings.

The place was full of junk, it looked like the Netherworld dumping ground. All of the lakes and rivers had a greenish tint to them and the trash was so compact it actually made ground you could easily walk on.

His searches of the place hadn't been completely useless however. He had found some rusty armor and weapons, some coins that looked like the local currency, and some midgets with glowing fingertips (which is a different story entirely).

All of a sudden, his nose perked up at a familiar smell. It was food.

Hunger overrode logic as Ranma instantly zeroed in on the smell and started to follow it, heedless of the danger he was approaching.

Finally as he crested the top of an enormous hill he saw two golden arches in the sky.

_No…It cant be. There's no way there could possibly be one here!_

Printed in big white letters were the words 'McDonalds: Netherworld Branch.'

Running the last mile to McDonalds: 6.7 seconds

Knocking out every demon in line to get to the front: 4.8 seconds

Placing a gigantic order and having it served: 45.6 seconds

Eating the entire order by yourself: Priceless

There are some things that watches cant time. For everything else, there's Rolex.

Ranma sighed and put his hands on the back of his head. Now that he was fed, he had to start worrying about where he was going to stay. Except for the occasional demon he hadn't found any sign of a town or city where he could stay.

He examined the map on the table once again. He had picked it up from a small information booth in the McDonalds.

It appeared that the scroll had transported him straight in the middle of the Danger Zone of the Netherworld. If he went east he would hit Salamanders Breath, a volcano area.

If he went west he would never get out of the stellar graveyard, north would take him to the frozen land of Jotenheim while south would get him stuck in the Cave of Ordeal.

Ranma crumpled up the map and threw it in the trash.

_What a waste of money. I already knew I was screwed over without that maps help._

And then, it happened.

Moments earlier:

Laharl and company wearily trudged through the stellar graveyard. The cleric who ran the dimensional gate had told them that she couldn't get a lock on the energy reading and had transported them as close as she could.

If demons had known about cars then Laharl would have compared this to a road trip.

Etna immediately started saying that she needed to go to the bathroom while Flonne was starting to complain about all the walking. Even the prinnies were starting to whine.

And it had only been 5 minutes.

"FINE!" Laharl shouted as Etna began to complain again, "We'll stop at this McDonalds and then you can do what you want!"

Grumbling to himself he led the way to the restaurant when just outside the door, Etna stopped.

"What now?" asked Laharl.

Etna suddenly drew her axe and the prinnies followed suit. Flonne took the bow off of her back as well.

"He's in there prince."

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know how, I just know."

Laharl drew the sword of his back, "Well then, lets introduce ourselves."

"WIND CUTTER!"

A shout was followed by a huge explosion near the front of the store. Ranma immediately got into a defensive stance and tried to survey the threat through the smoke. The next sound Ranma heard made him sweatdrop.

SMACK!

"Laharl! They make doors for a reason you know!" said a voice full of righteous feminine anger.

"Whine whine whine. Its only a McDonalds."

"That's beside the point."

A new voice joined the other two, "Focus people. We have an objective to complete."

The smoke finally cleared and both sides got a look at their opposition.

Laharl was stuned, "A human…?"

"In the…" Flonne continued.

"Netherworld?" Etna finished.

Activate Saotome standard greeting procedure 101.

Ranma scratched the back of his head, "My names Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."

A/N: The first meeting between the two characters. You can feel the tension rising. Please remember to leave a review on your way out.

Cheers.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I'll get around to it.

A/N: Just to let you know, I'm making the demons ages about the equivalent of Ranma's age. Etna is slightly older than Laharl and Flonne is slightly younger than him.

Ranma casually chewed on a fry as he surveyed the three teens across the room. One was a she-demon he assumed to be about his age. She was radiating an aura that screamed trouble and the look she was giving him sent shivers up his spine.

The male of the group had a huge aura that almost rivaled Saffron, but it was unfocused and uncontrolled. If it came down to a fight it would be a close call.

His eyes widened as he examined the third person, it was an angel! Probably a trainee by the looks of the aura and wing size but still, what was an angel doing in the company of demons?

Getting tired of the standstill Laharl spoke up, "Well then foolish human, know now that I am the great and terrible over…"

Laharl's voice died off as Etna began to tap him on the shoulder.

"WHAT?" he shouted.

"Hey uh, prince? Can I go to the bathroom now?"

Laharl's ego deflated like a punctured balloon, "But what about…?"

He was cut off again, "Oohh! Special offer on Big Macs!" squealed Flonne before running to the counter. Etna took the chance to run off to the restroom.

Ranma heard the overlord mumble something about 'vassals' and 'pain' but he couldn't work out what he had said. Ranma's shrugged, "You were saying?"

Clearing his throat Laharl began again, "I am the great and terrible overlord Laharl!"

"Nice to meet you." Said Ranma before returning to his meal.

Flonne finished her order and took a seat across from Ranma. Laharl scratched his head, wondering why he was expecting a bigger reaction from him. Finally he sheathed his sword and joined them at the table.

"So Mr. Ranma?" asked the angel.

"Just Ranma, please. I don't think I caught your name though."

"Oh! I'm angel trainee Flonne. Its nice to meet you!"

Flonne, Ranma noted, seemed to be a younger version of Kasumi. She radiated an aura of peace and you could not help but like her.

"So," she continued, "What are you doing in the Netherworld? Didn't you know this is a dangerous place for humans?"

Ranma leaned back and put his hands behind his head, "Meh. Nothing here could be as dangerous as the situation at home. I just consider this a vacation. Come to think of it, what are you doing here? I didn't think that angels and demons were on talking terms."

"Well that's…" she began.

"A very long and painful story that I'd rather not tell." Finished Laharl.

Etna came over and sat next to Ranma, "What I'm curious about is how you got here in the first place."

Ranma explained his little trip to the magic shop and the scroll he had found there.

"Wow. What kind of an idiot would give that scroll to a magic shop?" asked Etna when he finished.

Somewhere up in heaven a certain trickster god sneezed.

"I'm kind of grateful actually," said Ranma, "I don't think any hell could be as bad as the hell on earth _they _made my life."

"Your life was really that bad?" asked Flonne worriedly.

"It is a long and boring story that I'd rather not tell you."

The four of them talked for a long time, telling them about their home-worlds and how they came to be Laharl's vassals. Etna had served under Laharl's father until he died 2 years ago by choking on a black pretzel. By the wishes of the late king, she now served as Laharl's vassal.

Flonne had been sent by Celestia, the city of angels, to assassinate King Kircheskvoy (sp?). Unfortunately that king was Laharl's father and had already been dead for 2 years. She had become Laharl's vassal, after they had fought, in an attempt to prove that demons had feelings and could love too.

Laharl himself was another story. He had been put to sleep for two years by a poison that should have killed him. During that time his father had died and the Netherworld demons had fought for the title of overlord. In a climatic battle for overlord-ship Laharl had crushed all opposition for the throne in one fell swoop.

"So why did you guys come here anyway?" asked Ranma curiously.

"Our dimensional gatekeeper said that she detected a huge power level coming from here. We were bored so we decided to check it out." Explained Etna.

"Just how does a human have such enormous power anyway?" asked Flonne.

"I've been training in the art ever since I was 6," deadpanned Ranma. He started talking in a near emotionless voice as he always did when he talked about his trip, "The first thing he taught me was to dirty myself up and beg for money. 6 months into the trip he wrapped me up in fish sausage and threw me into a pit of starving cats in an effort to teach me the Neko Ken."

Ranma explained his story to them leaving out a few select parts. Even though they were demons there were some things that no ones stomach could handle.

Somewhere in Celestia:

"This is… unexpected." Said one voice.

"True, but if we play this the right way maybe this can help further our plans." Said a second voice.

"Still I am… concerned."

"I would not worry too much about it. They seem to be getting on very well."

"…"

"Very well then. I understand. In the meantime, Starbucks on me? I heard that they opened up a branch here."

(I think that I've beaten that gag to death now Ne?)

Back in the Netherworld:

Everyone was silent for a few minutes after Ranma had told his story. Finally Etna spoke up, "Hey Ranma, Are you sure that your father isn't a demon? Even I couldn't have thought up all those torture methods."

Flonne had a sad look on her face and a single tear went down her cheek, "Th…that's so cruel! What kind of a father would do that to his own son?"

Like always, Ranma could never stand to see a girl cry, "Hey don't worry about it. I've been over it for a long time. Besides, there ain't much he can do to me now that I'm in hell. I don't think even **he** would come here to try and take me back." Flonne seemed to cheer up a little after hearing that.

Ranma stood up and stretched, "Well, I'll be seeing you around then, hope your overlordship works out for you."

Etna on a sudden impulse grabbed Ranma's shoulder before he could leave, "Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Er… not really."

"Well then," said Flonne now smiling as she got up and placed a hand on his other shoulder, "Why don't you stay with us in the castle?"

"Well I wouldn't want to intrude or anything like that…"

He was cut off again by Etna, "Don't worry about it. The castle has been nearly empty ever since most of the late king's vassals left."

"Well…"

Ranma then fell victim to the one attack that no man had every been able to counter. Nations fell to it, worlds succumbed to it and Ranma had absolutely no defense against it.

It was the dreaded, feared and lethal PUPPY DOG EYES ATTACK!

2.5 seconds later Ranma was walking with his new friends back to the warp point where the dimensional gate was to take them back to the castle.

Laharl stood in the center of a small clearing where Ranma could feel a high magic signature.

"Scotty! Beam us up!"

A telepathic voice spoke into everyone's minds.

"Damnit Laharl! My name isn't Scotty!"

In a flash all 4 of them disappeared.

A/N: Ahh, another chapter done. In a horrible mistake I accidentally deleted all of my work hence, the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review on your way out please.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Out of Order

A/N: Maybe I'll think of something by the end of this chapter.

Laharl stood in the center of a small clearing where Ranma could feel a high magic signature.

"Scotty! Beam us up!"

A telepathic voice spoke into everyone's minds.

"Damnit Laharl! My name isn't Scotty!"

In a flash all 4 of them disappeared.

The party reappeared in a hallway and landed gently on their feet, well except Laharl who was set down none to gently on his head.

"Home sweet home." Mumbled Laharl from his position on the floor. Looking up angrily at the female cleric that was in charge of the gate.

"Laharl!" Flonne chided, "It isn't nice to tease people! Demons have feelings to you know…"

Laharl stood up in indignantly, "How many times do I have to tell you? Demons don't have feelings!"

"You know," commented Ranma offhandedly, "For someone who claims he doesn't have any feelings you sure are quick to feel angry."

"…You stay out of this."

Etna came up behind him and grabbed his arm making Ranma involuntarily shiver, "Come one Ranma these guys are gonna be at it all day. I'll give you the tour."

"But don't you think…?"

She didn't even look back at the two as she led Ranma away, "Don't worry, they never get beyond hair pulling."

"This happen often?"

"Ever since she came here."

Ranma was led out of the dark hallway and into a room filled with swords, axes, spears and all kinds of other weapons.

"The armory." Said Etna simply; "It hasn't seen much use since the kings humanoid vassals left. Come to think of it, I think you're the first human the Netherworld has seen in almost a thousand years."

Looking over the equipment Ranma saw that most of the equipment was obsolete. The swords had many cracks in them and the spears looked like their heads would break if any pressure was applied to them.

"The merchants come by about once a week to sell their wares." She explained.

Just then, Laharl came running past them and out another door with Flonne hot on his heels. Flonne had a scythe in her hand and a look on her face that would rival any demon. Ranma and Etna wisely stepped out of her way as she pursued the errant overlord.

Etna slapped a hand to her forehead, "That kid will never learn." She mumbled quietly to herself.

"What just happened?"

"He probably called her a 'flat chest' again."

'Man, I guess that comment even gets angels riled. It figures that even divinity is concerned about their figure.' Thought Ranma to himself.

Somewhere in Nerima…

"I suddenly have the urge to slap someone." Akane said out loud suddenly.

"Oh my!" said Kasumi sweetly, "I hope you don't get these urges often."

"Bweeeee!" agreed bacon butt er… I mean P-Chan.

"This is Laharl's room." Said Etna simply.

The room was dark, the only lights coming from candles. Devoid of decoration, the only thing in the room was a small coffin in the center.

"I wont be sleeping in one of those will I?"

"Nah we have guest quarters too. Unless of course you'd prefer the coffin."

"So is there anyone else in this castle besides the gatekeeper and us?"

"Oh yeah, Laharl does have a few vassals. Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

Etna led Ranma to a large room where a few people were practicing various exercises and forms. As soon as Ranma entered the training stopped. Ranma had to quickly focus his chi sight to keep himself from being blinded. Every monster there had aura's that easily dwarfed his own.

A zombie came up first, "Hmm, it looks like the prince has picked up another stray. Human this time." Despite being rotting bone and flesh the words came out perfectly.

Ranma didn't even flinch as the smell or appearance, a credit to his time in Nerima, "Ranma Saotome, and you are…"

"Zommie. One of the late kings vassals." He provided.

An animal, one-third lion, one-third dragon, and one third human approached him next. Ranma recognized him as a manticore. Ever since that one incident with the Musk Dynasty he had gone out of his way to read up on mythical beasts in case he ever fought one again.

The beast walked in a slow circle around Ranma, sniffing at him occasionally. Finally in a deep baritone voice he spoke, "This one has an inner strength about him. Not like those other fleas he has brought. Tell us mortal, have you ever been called the chaos bringer before?"

Ranma thought for a minute, "No…that would be a new one to me."

"I see then." He retreated back into line and a red dragon stepped forward. It looked more like a raptor than a real dragon. Its front claws were more like a predators and it walked on its hind legs like a human.

This time the voice was female, "Ah…I can see what the manticore means. It seems as though things are going to get interesting again."

"Well I personally don't have a problem with that." Commented another one of the monsters. This one, a huge golem, had an enormous body structure made of stone standing at least 8 feet from the ground.

"Tell me, your all the king's vassals right?" asked Ranma.

The last monster in line that hadn't introduced himself spoke up, "Technically. We do not believe that Laharl has proved himself to be a worthy king yet. He is too immature and young to assume the true position of overlord."

The one who had spoken was a ghoul in gray robes. The only part that could be seen of his body was a white face poking out of the hood.

"Until we believe him worthy of our power," the ghoul continued, "We will let him make his own way as overlord." The other creatures nodded confirmation.

Ranma shrugged, "Fair enough. Now," he looked briefly around the room, "Anyone up for a spar?"

His response was as expected. The manticore gave a low growl; the golem pounded its massive fists together while the dragon merely gave him a toothy grin. However the zombie held up his hand.

"I shall be the one to test this human."

"My name is Ranma Saotome," he provided, "And don't forget it."

The zombie only smiled, a hideous effect on his face, "Very well Ranma, prepare yourself."

All of the monsters backed to the sidelines while Ranma and Zommie got into their battle stances at opposite ends of the room.

"Watch out for his bandages," whispered Etna before giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. She then retreated to the sidelines to watch the fight.

"BEGIN!" growled the manticore, and the fight was on.

For a moment no one moved, then suddenly at an unseen single both fighters rushed eachother. Zommie moved at a surprising speed for a rotting corpse and both fighters met in the center.

Ranma started with a few basic punches and kicks to test his opponent's defense and was surprised when Zommie merely stood there and took them. His hits landed on the zombie with little effect.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," he commented before beginning his attack. The bandages around his arms unfurled and lashed out at him with lightning speed much like Kodachi's ribbon attack. Fortunately Ranma had been expecting an attack like that and escaped with a few shaved hairs.

Dancing back out of range Ranma summoned his inner energies and let his aura spring up about him, coating his hands and feet with his confidence. He moved in again.

This time Zommie was ready. He dodged the kick and ducked under the punch countering with his own combo. Ranma flipped over his head and executed a midair kick, using the undead's body as a springboard to get some room.

"That was better," said Zommie, "Now lets up the ante!"

Ranma could immediately tell that the Zombie had released more of his demonic energy as the zombie was now glowing with a faint black aura.

"Zombie Gatling Gun!" he cried out as Ranma approached him again.

There was a common misconception about the move. Anyone who heard it for the first time would think that the zombie was using bullets. This was not so however. The Zombie Gatling Gun is actually hundreds of small ki blasts thrown at an extremely rapid rate from ones fingertips, thus creating the 'machine gun like' effect.

Ranma barely had time to raise his aura before the blasts impacted him, sending him crashing to the floor. Unfortunately Zommie did not give Ranma time to recover but brought his bandages back into play, forcing Ranma to perform a series of rolls to get back to his feet.

"Moko Takabisha!" The blue-gold blast of confidence blasted towards the undead creature who simply ducked. Too bad he wasn't prepared for the follow up.

"Rapid Fire!" Suddenly Zommie found himself on the receiving end of his own technique as several smaller lion shots impacted his body. He was in pain for a few brief seconds but then his regeneration powers kicked in.

"So, you're a fast healer huh?" commented Ranma, "Great. That means I wont have to hold back!"

"Then neither will I!"

Zommie took in a deep breath and let loose a cloud of poison, but non-lethal, gas. At most it would have paralyzed him. What he did not consider was that Ranma had been on the receiving end of countless poisons from Akane and Kodachi so he had built quite a resistance to it.

Coughing slightly Ranma extended his senses to find the zombie. While Zommie didn't have a ki signature he was giving off power and that was enough to find where he was amidst the gas.

Finally sensing his power, Ranma attacked the undead creature.

Zommie was feeling pain, that in itself was unusual seeing as how he was undead and had no nerves. Then he realized that the human was somehow attacking his ki flows directly. Seeing as how the gas was doing more harm that good he dissipated it. This turned out to be a mistake.

Just as the cloud disappeared Zommie heard a shout, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Ranma watched with satisfaction as the Zombie reeled back from the blow, impacting one of the walls. Breathing heavily he panted, "Did I get him?"

"Oh you got me alright."

The zombie was still standing, his wounds regenerating before Ranma's eyes.

"No way! There's no way you could just shake off something like that!"

"I didn't. Do you have any idea how hard it was to regenerate that wound?"

Ranma suddenly seemed to regain his confidence, "So you aren't invincible after all. That's good."

"Consider yourself honored that you even got to see this move. ZOMBIE SWARM!"

There was only a bright flash of light and then all traces of Zommie disappeared, ki signature and all. Ranma only sensed the ki for a second before hundreds of replicas of Zommie burst from the ground.

As one they all jumped at Ranma.

He tried to defend himself, he really did. However once one of the zombies hit him once, it disappeared spreading its power among the remaining images. Ranma found himself on the receiving end of hundreds of blows, progressively more powerful, until finally only one was remaining.

The last strike sent him tumbling to his back.

From his position on the floor Ranma looked up at Zommie with respect, "That was…some tech…nique." His breathing was a bit labored, the multiple injuries he had sustained not helping much.

"It was a revised technique of the original. The original technique involved replicating myself into several hundred weak duplicates that all attacked in a group. The revised allowed me to dispel my replicas right after they hit you once, allowing them to spread out their power over the others."

"That's all fine and dandy but I really think that he needs some medical attention right now." Etna had stepped up after the fighting had finished and was helping Ranma to his feet.

"You did well Ranma," the Zombie said as Ranma was carried away by Etna, "Give it a couple more years and you might be able to beat me."

Zommie waited until Ranma was out of the room before he fell to his knees in sheer exhaustion.

"Looks like he was a little tougher than you thought." Commented the female dragon.

"…"

"Admit it. He was a good fighter."

"…"

"You know I'm right."

"…Sigh. All right I admit it. He was a very good challenge."

"See? Told you so."

"Rub it in why don't you?"

"See? Told you so."

"…Shut up."

"That wasn't too shabby." Commented Etna as she supported Ranma on his way to the hospital.

Ranma, who was trying his hardest not to notice how close his hand was to the demon's cleavage, responded quickly, "I lost. How was that impressive?"

"Oh come on. Those demons were the most loyal servants of Kircheskvoy himself. You know, the ruler of the Netherworld? Not even Laharl can take them on. Think about it."

Ranma thought about it, and they walked in silence a little longer.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"We have a little hospital set up in the castle for situations like these. They are some of the few that haven't disbanded because their loyalty to the late king was so strong. Personally I think the doc's just a workaholic."

"So what's his name?"

"Dr. Paine. He works there with his assistants Dr. Deth, Nurse Hurt, and Ms. Coffin."

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' Ranma thought to no one in particular.

A/N: And you thought I was never going to update. So there! I came up with a new years resolution 30 days ago to update at least 3 fanfics a month, and this is number three so Boo Yah.

Anyway, I admit this chapter wasn't as good as some of the others but I needed to show just where Ranma stood in the pecking order here. Anyway, I don't plan to abandon any of my stories and expect an update soon all you SSBR fans.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I swear to god, if you don't get that lawyer with the telescope away from my house…

The fourth installment of Ranma: Hour of Chaos is here and ready to go. A thanks goes to Douglas K for Kuno's line.

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"So Etna, I was wondering. You said this was hell right?"

"Yeah."

"So…if I'm in hell, shouldn't I be dead or something like that?"

Etna and Ranma were walking through the corridors of the overlord's castle to reach the infirmary. Despite Ranma's insistence that he was fine and could walk on his own, Etna was supporting him with her arm around his waist.

"Well, this isn't exactly the 'hell' your thinking of. This place is more of a…'purgatory' as you humans would put it."

"Oh." There was a bit of an awkward silence for a few seconds, "What's purgatory?"

Face faulting would have been hazardous with her passenger so she opted for a sweat-drop instead.

"Hmm…let me put it this way. Generally, good people go to the place called 'heaven' while bad people go to the place called 'hell.' Of course Hild-sama and Kami-sama prefer Asgard and Nefilem, but that's a different story entirely."

(A/N: Not to mention the makings of one hell of a confusing plot)

"Those two places co-exist with earth, but the Netherworld and Celestia are a world away. Whenever a soul is…in-balance…their souls get sent here and they take on the bodies of prinnies to pay off their debts and ascend to heaven."

"Well, I don't really get it but hey, at least I'm not dead!"

Etna sighed and put her hand on her forehead.

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"So what do you think Laharl?" asked the Wraith.

The young (in demon terms) overlord looked into the scrying pool the Wraith had made for a second more before sitting back on his throne.

"He could prove to be a worthy vassal. Perhaps he would consider the honor of joining me. He's not a bad fighter for a human."

"Honor my ass," commented the dragon standing beside Laharl, "The last two 'vassals' who joined you had to be beaten within an inch of their lives."

"Shut up!"

"Even so, I am sure that with his support, you could readily establish yourself as a successful overlord."

"Or you could always get off your lazy ass and help me," countered Laharl.

"That would require effort on my part that I'm not willing to give."

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On a different level of existence, a very different argument was occurring. This one, between the warring factions of Nerima.

"What do you mean he's gone?" shouted Ukyo.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Responded Nabiki, "He's not here, gone away, can't be found, vanished, disappeared, do I really need to continue?"

"Tell me what you know then. I know you know something."

"Take a seat in the dinning room then. Everyone else should be here shortly." And I'll have to tell Kasumi to put sedatives in the tea to control this lot.

A few minutes later…

'It's sad really,' Nabiki thought to herself as she looked at the all too familiar sight of Ranma's enemies grouped around the table, 'Where would these people find personalities of their own if they didn't have Ranma to help shape them? Come to think of it, if Ranma really did disappear, what would they do?'

However, Nabiki wasn't one to let such petty things as decency get in the way of her money schemes.

Pocketing her earned/extorted money, Nabiki began to tell the crowd about what her followers had observed the day he had disappeared.

The surprise came in the from of Colonge.

"Do you happen to be talking about this scroll?" The wizened mummy drew a bound and sealed scroll from her sleeve.

Nabiki took a look at it. The seal that bound it was the exact same one that her observer had told her about. A blood red pentagram with a smaller star in the center.

"So…what does it mean?"

Colonge sighed and put the scroll in the folds of her robes, "This scroll was, or rather is, a gateway to a place called the netherworld."

"You mean hell?"

"No. I mean the netherworld. They are two entirely different places."

"Really? How so?"

"If you had been following the story you'd know, but that's not important right now. The thing is, the netherworld is a dwelling place for many powerful demons, even more powerful than I."

This made even the most hotheaded people cool down and think for a bit.

'Damn you Saotome,' Ryoga thought silently to himself, 'Not only do you run off from a man to man fight, but now you've gone and stole my best line! I cant say, "because of you I've seen hell" anymore because you're there now!'

'Foul sorcerer! Even from the depths of hell I shall banish your evil!' Kuno paused, 'Hmm, that didn't sound right…'

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Despite their names, the doctors were very professional. Unfortunately their practice didn't do very well because of their names in the first place, until King Kircheskvoy had taken them in and let them set up their station. In honor of the king's memory, they chose to stick by the prince.

Another thing of interest he had noticed was the place called the item world. Every time a person made a weapon or piece of art, they imprinted a bit of their soul onto their work. The item world, as it was nicknamed, let you do battle with the soul in a physical form. If you defeated it, then the item would be bonded to you, and no one else could use it.

There were other varying factors as well. His shirt for instance, was mass-produced and machine made having absolutely no soul in it. However, if you were to take a hand made sword, such as a blade from the legendary Masamune himself, you would be facing an enemy with near god-like attributes.

This was all thanks to the sorceress Eleanor. At an early age, she had begun to smith weapons and armor. She found later that she had the ability to communicate with items and the proverbial 'souls' that resided within them. Kircheskvoy had taken an interest in her and she later became his vassal. She also chose to stick with the prince in memory of his father.

"So," Ranma had asked, "If king Kirkcheck…whatever, was so great, how did he die?"

"Hmm, oh he choked on a black pretzel." Said Etna simply.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

'That's pathetic,' thought Ranma silently to himself, 'But then again, if I hadn't gotten out of that hellhole, Akane's cooking probably would have done me in.'

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Somewhere up on earth, midguard, or whatever name you want to use for it, a certain tomboy sneezed.

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"Hey Etna, you know the portal that transported us here?"

"You mean the dimensional gate? What about it?"

"Can it transport people anywhere?"

"As long as the gatekeeper has the coordinates."

"Could it get me back to earth?"

Etna smiled to herself as she responded, "To do that you'd have to petition to the dark assembly, made up of some of the Netherworld's strongest demons. And those conservatives haven't opened up that route in 2000 years."

Ranma wasn't discouraged though, "So what do I need to do?"

'He's a tough one,' thought Etna, 'Time to bring out the big guns.'

"Just convince a horde of demons who are more powerful than the ones you fought, to open up a portal to the human world when they all revel in isolation."

"And how would I do that?"

"Bribery."

Ranma paled at this. Bribery and extortion were Nabiki's area of expertise, not his. Not to mention he only had about 35 yen in his pocket, and he didn't even know what type of currency these demons used.

"Is there any other way?"

"Well, you could challenge them to mortal combat, but you'd be hopelessly outnumbered."

"Damn. Looks like I'm stuck here for now then. Although it's probably for the best. At least I'm away from Nerima."

"Exactly!" Laharl stood in the hall, his cape flying behind him in an unknown wind, his sword drawn and ready for action, "And now that you've realized just how hopeless your situation is, I have a deal for you."

Ranma casually brushed Etna's arm away and got into a deceptive fighting stance, making it look like he wasn't ready for a fight, but was secretly geared for almost anything.

"And what is this deal?"

"Simple. You become my vassal, and I give you room and board at the castle, along with my protection. In return, you serve me and help me establish my position as overlord."

The thought rolled around in Ranma's mind for a bit, considering the pros and cons. He was technically a guest here and they could boot him out any time if he didn't accept the offer. On the other hand, servitude to a demon could mean a whole host of things he probably didn't want to get involved with.

Then there were the demons Laharl and Etna. The kid-overlord claimed he was nearly 1200 years old but he acted like a 12 year-old sometimes. His power-level though, was nearly as high as his own. Etna was more like a teenager though. She claimed to be nearly 1400 years old, but she acted like a girl who just got out of puberty. As far as Ranma could tell, one demon year was about equal to a thousand human years.

There was also the dark council to deal with. If he wanted to get back home, he needed to win them over, and having the overlord on his side would be a good start…

"Alright, I accept."

"Y…you do?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously? No fighting, no deals, no blackmail or strings attached?"

"Nah. Not my area. My names Ranma, vassal to the kid-overlord Laharl." He held out his hand. Laharl took it.

"Welcome to the overlords castle."

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Etna's Diary:

_My memories are slowly coming back to me, now that the vampire Madreas has been defeated. But my memories are a thing of the past. The future is moving on and is bringing new surprises. Today, for instance, the first human in over 1000 years has entered the Netherworld. Not to mention he's strong and good-looking too._

_Something seems familiar about him; though I cant quite place my finger on it. Perhaps my returning memories will clue me in as to who this person is._

_Another thing, I find myself strangely attracted to this man as well. I know its silly. Humans like him barely have a lifespan of a hundred years or so, a relationship would never work between us, but I can still dream __ Perhaps a short-term relationship would work…_

_He's also incredibly shy. Even when I give out a minor suggestion he starts sweating and changes the subject, so I might have to move a little more slowly with him. Not that I've ever really been in a relationship before. He hinted at some crazy stuff back on earth about all these females chasing after him but he didn't elaborate. If half of what he told us is true, I cant believe he's still a virgin. Demons have a knack for smelling stuff like that out._

_The only downside I can see to him is that he's a little dull. Right after taking a spectacular loss to one of the late kings servants, he was up and ready to go fight even more powerful demons almost an hour later. He's either really brave or really clueless. Oh well, he'll learn eventually, or die in the process._

Etna sighed and closed her diary. It was amazing how much writing your thoughts out put things into perspective. Just as she was about to leave her secret hiding place, something caught her eye. There was a piece of paper sticking out between the pages of her diary.

Hesitantly, she pulled it out. The first thing that caught her eye was two signatures at the bottom. The first belonged to King Kircheskvoy; the second belonged to someone named Genma Saotome.

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Three guesses as to what the contract is about, and the first two don't count.

Please leave a review on the way out.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Back in action. Need I say more?

* * *

Adonis sighed as he gazed at the Overlords castle for what seemed like the millionth time. While Laharl didn't know it himself, his castle was nearly impregnable due to the defenses the late king had put around it. The kid overlord in all his obliviousness probably never even wondered why no one had attacked his home in the two years he had been asleep either.

The truth was, the ex-overlord had spun some of the mightiest protection spells of his time around the castle which endured even after his passing. Anyone trying to teleport in would hit a rubber like wall and be bounced back. There was no way to approach the castle on foot either, since it had neither bridge nor walkway and was surrounded by a moat of lava. Although this also meant no one could get out on foot, they hardly needed to since Laharl now held a dimensional gatekeeper.

Furthermore, dimensional gatekeepers were a pain in the ass to get. Firstly, one had to get explicit permission from the high judge of the dark assembly. Second, you had to find one…a good one. Get a bad one and you might just find yourself teleported into a mountain. Finally, you had to keep their wallets full, and they had BIG wallets.

He had never actually met King Kircheskvoy, but considering he had an excellent gatekeeper swear fealty to him even in death, he must have been one hell of a ruler…no pun intended.

For right now though, he needed to find another way to get the kid overlord outside his castle to check up on the new arrival.

* * *

"Ranma! Clean my shorts!"

"Already done."

"Saotome! Make my breakfast!"

"Ready for you in the kitchen."

"Wake up the vassals?"

"Etna took care of them."

"Morning coffee?"

Ranma produced the plastic coffee cup and handed it to him. "Black. No sugar. Lot's of cream."

Laharl took a long drink. "Ah, that hits the spot. So have you cleaned the castle?"

"Swept, dusted, and polished."

"Weapons and armor?"

The martial artist produced a cape and sword from behind his back and handed them to him. "Just finished while we were talking."

"...You know you're not that fun to boss around.."

Ranma shrugged. "Sorry," he said unconvincingly.

"How did you even know to do all that stuff anyways?" he asked, slightly bewildered. "You've been my vassal for less than a day!"

The martial artist pulled a sheet of paper from his sleeve. "Etna gave me a list of the top twenty things that you're most likely going to ask me to do. I took the liberty of doing them all while I was doing my morning routine. It was decent training."

"Way to take all the fun out of it," he grumbled to himself. "So, are you ready to be reincarnated today?"

Ranma blinked. "Rein-what?"

"Reincarnation of course. Did you think I'd let you stay a weak human while being _my_ vassal?"

"Would it greatly surprise you if I just said yes?" asked Ranma wearily.

"Of course not! That's why I prepared a contingency plan." Laharl brandished the sword that was nearly as big as his body. "If you can defeat me in combat, I'll acknowledge your fighting skill and allow you to chose your new form."

"And if you win?"

The kid overlord smirked. "I'll choose what you reincarnate into."

"...That doesn't sound like a very fair-"

"Demon. Don't care." He was cut off suddenly as Laharl charged, forcing him to dodge several quick strikes of his blade.

"Do you *dodge* really think *dodge* we should *dodge* be doing this inside?" Sidestepping a chop, Ranma moved inside the demon's guard and flicked him on the forehead, sending him staggering back a step.

The query gave the demon pause. "Huh. Well, I guess I wouldn't want to destroy this castle during a friendly fight."

_'Friendly huh? Riiiiight.'_

Laharl suddenly snapped his fingers. "I know exactly where we can settle this. Meet me at the dimensional gate in twenty minutes." The kid overlord's cape twined around his sword, depositing the blade into subspace before walking off.

"Well, this is going to be fun." The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

"It could be worse," said a voice from his left. The martial artist turned to see Etna emerge from her room, a spear strapped to her back. "He could have just ordered you to do it. You are his vassal after all."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't he?"

Etna shrugged. "Think of it as an illusion of free will. Either that or he's just been looking for a chance to fight you."

"Why didn't he just fight me here?"

Etna was silent for a minute. "You ever watch Dragon Ball Z?"

"Tried to. Took too long to get to the action though, and took too long showing the action."

"Well let's just say that we're trying to preserve what's left of this run down castle."

"Fair enough. So what's our battleground then."

"Tutorial map number one."

"Huh?"

"Training ground number one," she corrected quickly. "It's where we go to beat each other up. Very therapeutic for when I need to put the prinnies in line. Did you know they blow up if you throw them hard enough?"

Ranma filed that little tidbit away for future use. "No. Can they do this multiple time or is your employee turnover rate even worse than McDonalds?"

"We have extensive health coverage," provided Etna simply. "As long as your soul doesn't get torn from your body, we can probably put you back together, so don't worry about Laharl accidentally killing you or anything."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better." An anime sweatdrop had appeared on his head.

"Good to know," the demon responded cheerfully. "Did you want to pick up a weapon or are you cocky as well as confident?"

"I prefer to think of it as having faith in my abilities," he replied nonchalant.

"Suit yourself. Not like I'm footing the medical bill."

"Good thing too," he muttered under his breath. I get the feeling you'd let me rot for a bit to save money."

"What was that?"

"I said good thing too. Resurrection must cost a lot of money. We have time to pick up some coffee first?"

"So, this is tutorial map number one huh? Looks pretty plain."

And indeed it did. The surrounding land was simply a grassy plain with a few trees as its only distinguishing feature. Perfect for a fight with overly destructive attacks flying around. Etna was several feet off to the side, using one of her prinnies as an improvised chair, the other two holding a food and drink tray.

"We renamed this training map one after we got past the first chapter," corrected Laharl. "You only ever need a tutorial once. But that's beside the point." His cape twined around his arm as he slowly drew his sword out of a subspace pocket. Near the bottom of the soft incline, Ranma watched with interest as he sipped on his coffee.

"Are you ready to prove yourself to your lord and master?" he shouted dramatically.

"Can I finish my coffee first?" the martial artist asked politely. "It tastes disgusting when its cold."

"Then it's a good thing this will be over quickly!" The shout was a prelude to his attack. Brandishing his sword, he ran at the martial artist, intent on finishing him off in a single blow. Unfortunately, even while drinking coffee, Ranma's dodging skill was top notch.

"You're not -swing- taking this -swing- seriously -swing- are you?"

"Sure I am -dodge- I think it's important -dodge- to give my enemy -dodge- my full attention." Jumping away from a horizontal slash, Ranma finished off the drink in midair before tossing the cup to Etna. "That's why I wanted to finish first. Hold that will you? I don't like littering," he said aside to Etna. The demon merely incinerated it in her hand.

"WIND BLADE!"

He turned his attention back to the fight just in time to sidestep a large blade of energy that left a scar in the ground.

"Are your ready to pay attention now?" asked Laharl evilly. He raised his sword above his head again, the blade giving off a white glow. "WIND BLADE!"

For a moment it seemed as though the blade had detached from the sword and was hurtling towards him, but it was simply the buildup of energy around the sword taking form and being released. With little thought, he sidestepped the blade, paying little attention to the destruction left in its wake.

"Pretty impressive," said Ranma honestly as he walked forward, hands in his pockets. "But can you do that without your sword?"

"Wha-" Even before he had started speaking, Ranma had closed the distance between them, throwing several light kicks, forcing the demon kid backwards. "You're pretty fast for a human," complimented Laharl, "But don't think I'm a pushover."

As if a switch was flipped, Laharl suddenly went on the offensive with increased speed, forcing Ranma to dodge more and attack less. The trade went back and forth for a few seconds before it looked like Laharl was about to land a decisive hit. Suddenly, Ranma's left hand darted out of his pocket and caught the blade harmlessly between his fingers. Taking advantage of the overlord's surprise, Ranma snap kicked the kid's wrist, forcing him to let go of the blade.

"So tell me," said the martial artist smugly, the overlord's blade over one shoulder. "Can you use those fancy sword techniques without your sword."

Laharl glared at him. "No, but I can do this." Back-flipping away from Ranma, the kid overlord took on a look of concentration. "RAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

As if someone had just let the top off of a shaken bottle, several balls of destructive energy flew from his small form, stopping suddenly to hover in the air. Ranma, hand still in his pocket, simply stared at the massive amount of energy on display.

"OVERLORD'S WRATH!" With a thrust of his hand, Laharl sent all the energy flying towards the martial artist.

"Oh shi-" BOOM!

A huge cloud of dust was thrown up, obscuring the martial artist from view.

"Ahahahahaha!" Laharl crossed his arms as he surveyed the destruction in front of him. "Ready to accept your reincarnation?"

In response, a small rock flew out of the dust, hitting Laharl right between the eyes. This was immediately followed by more small rocks, followed by medium sized rocks, and ending with a huge boulder, forcing Laharl to desperately dodge out of the way. A few seconds later, a dusty and coughing Ranma emerged from the crater, covered in dirt but otherwise fine.

"How the hell did you dodge that?" asked Etna from the sidelines.

"Hid underground," he said simply. "Breaking point technique is a godsend."

Laharl smirked. "You're quick, I'll give you that. But how long can you hold out? RAAA-ugh!" Laharl's eyes widened as a fist impacted his stomach. A follow-up roundhouse knocked him several feet away.

"Pssh. Like I'd really let you do that again. What do you think this is, Dragonball Z?"

Laharl grabbed his sword as he got back to his feet. "Alright human, you've made your case. You don't have to get reincarnated."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? No tricks or anything? Even though your a demon? I can really trust you?" The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

"Sure you can." The grin on the kid-overlord's face told a different story. "You are my vassal after all."

"Oh goody. I guess that means I can turn my back and walk away from the battlefield and not be worried about someone trying to hit me in the back." As if narrating himself, he did just that, turning his back and walking towards the dimensional gate.

Etna face-palmed. She was having a hard time trying to decide who was being more stupid at this point.

Sure enough, as soon as his back was turned, Laharl unleashed another wind-blade, headed straight for Ranma's back. Without even turning around, Ranma took a small step to the side, as if not even noticing the gigantic release of energy.

"Hey look! A fifty yen piece." Ranma bent towards the ground as another blade of energy passed over where his head had been a second ago.

"Grrrr...Quit messing with me!" Shouted Laharl indignantly.

"What, you actually thought I'd fall for a trick that stupid? What do you think this is, Ranma one half?" He ducked reflexively as Etna threw a cup at him from the sidelines.

"No! It's Disgaea! Now quit breaking the fourth wall!"

Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry." He turned his attention back to the kid-overlord who was now seething in rage. "Now where were we?"

Laharl began attacking in a rage, the power level easily surpassing Ryoga, but the skill barely a tenth of what his rivals was. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty boring fight, at least when compared to Laharl's father's minions who fought with both skill and power. Sidestepping another wild sword slash, Ranma stepped into his guard and flicked him on the forehead, sending him staggering back a few steps.

"Look, can we stop this before someone has to pay a hefty medical bill? If I beat you up Etna says it's going to come out of my paycheck. I really don't want that."

If anything, it only served to infuriate the kid-overlord even more than before. The sword dropped from his fingers, laying useless at his side as an aura of pure anger and power manifested around him. "STOP TOYING WITH ME!"

His body began to lift off the ground and the landscape began to show the signs of heat as the few trees in the area began loosing their leaves and the grass began taking on a shade of black. Even Ranma was feeling the heat of his aura and was forced back a couple of steps.

Quickly, the martial artist ran through his options. A Hiryu Shoten Ha might have been the best option, but he didn't really think unleashing a tornado on his employer (he refused to think of him as a lord and master) would go over well in the end. He could try to fight through the heat, but he rather liked his clothes and hadn't been able to buy any new ones in the netherworld yet. Hiding underground again was an option, but at the rate the kid was powering up, he'd probably just unleash a blast powerful enough to reach him no matter how deep he dug. Running was looking like a better and better idea, but that would just be delaying the problem. Then, he spotted Etna.

_'That just might work,'_ he thought evilly.

Etna nearly toppled off her impromptu stool when Ranma suddenly materialized beside her. "Sorry but I need to borrow your vassals for a bit." The prinnies only had a second to look terrified before Ranma had scooped them up, stealing Etna's seat in the process. With an arm to make a major league pitcher jealous, he threw the first two prinnies towards the prince, making them explode on contact. The explosions only seemed to annoy him though as his aura continued to grow bigger.

"Have to do something special for this one," he said morbidly, unmindful of the terror stricken look on the last ones face.

Grabbing the whimpering penguin's head, he forced it down into the body, collapsing the thing into a ball shape. "Stay just like that," said Ranma. Before the prinny could nod in agreement, Ranma had already tossed him into the air.

"Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Super Secret Improvised Final Attack!"

A huge beam of energy came from the demon, but Ranma had already jumped into the air in a slow back-flip, timing the apex of the flip to the thrown prinny's decent. In an inhuman feat of timing, his foot connected with the ball like prinny, just as he was completing the back-flip.

"SPHERE SHOT!" WHAM!

"DOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

KA-BOOM!

"So why do I have to carry him again?" complained Ranma as he shouldered the unconscious overlord on their trek back to the dimensional gate.

"Because you knocked him out," she said simply.

"Well one of us were going to get knocked out from this," he complained further. "Aren't you like his most trusted vassal or something?"

The girl demon raised an eyebrow. "Trust? I don't think you've learned quite how things work around here."

"Gee, I'm just being showered with comfortable thoughts today. Should I start sleeping with one eye open or should I just fight you now and save us both the sleep?"

"Aww, he has a sense of humor," she mocked. "Tell you what, you just drag his royal butt back to the dimensional gate and I'll let you get all the sleep you need."

"Whatever. Not like you'd succeed anyways." Nevertheless, he continued carrying the sleeping prince as they trekked back through the gate. As they stepped through, they were greeted by Dr. Deth and his nurse Ms. Coffin.

"You know, I honestly expected you to come back through in a near-death state or something," said the medical professional adjusting his glasses.

"Sorry to disappoint," said Ranma nonchalantly.

"He'll probably wake up in an hour or two but I'll give him a checkup all the same." Gratefully, he expelled his burden, stretching the kinks out of his muscles.

"That kid's heavier than he looks," he observed as the doctors carried him off.

"You do know he's older than you right?"

"Yeah well mentally he's the equivalent of a little brat." Etna shrugged, unable to disagree.

"Welcome back you two," said an overly cheerful voice. Ranma turned from his conversation to see Flonne waiting for them, staff in hand. "Oh, Laharl lost? That's surprising."

"Lots of power, little skill. Seems to be the standard around here. You'd think that no one around has learned to dodge."

"Maybe it's more like Dragon Ball Z then you think," mumbled Etna under her breath.

"Hey, let's not beat that joke to death now," cautioned Ranma. "But yeah, there's a lot more you can do with a sword other than swinging it around like a maniac and unleashing high powered energy blasts."

"Can you use a sword Mr. Ranma?" asked Flonne politely.

"Not well, but I know what not to do with a sword, and I'm the conscious one right now."

All of a sudden, a loud banging sounded from the infirmary. "Fool! I have not yet begun to fight!" CLANG!

Dr. Deth emerged a second later. "The patient has been sedated for now. He'll be fine in a couple hours."

"Dr. Deth?" One of the nurses emerged from behind the curtain holding up a washtub bent at an odd angle. "What would you like me to do with this?"

"Recycle it please. Wouldn't want it to go to waste."

"So tell me, do I get my own room here or do I have to stand around and look intimidating like everyone else in this castle? Seriously, I don't think they've moved once since I fought with Zommie."

"They're very good at sleeping on their feet," complimented Flonne as she led him down one of the many stone corridors.

"Don't worry, you'll learn quickly," said Etna humorously from behind. Ranma cast her a sidelong glance. "I'm just kidding. There's special quarters for vassals. They're still empty though, since you're the only vassal he currently has."

"What about you?"

Etna smirked. "I like to make him think that I'm his vassal."

"Flonne?"

"I'm just here to teach him about the joys and wonders of the power of love!" A fire had sprung in her eyes at the recitation of her mission.

Ranma sweatdropped. "Uh...yeah. Hope that works out well for you."

Opening a large wooden double-door, Ranma entered a large empty room that might have easily stretched the length of the castle with several bunk beds lining the walls.

"I suppose this place will fill up once the prince decides to stop being lazy," she commented offhandedly. "But hey, you've got a bigger room than I do. Would you like a top bunk or a bottom bunk?"

Walking over to one of the bunks, Ranma karate-chopped the support poles in half before removing the entire frame from the bed. Tossing the top part of the bunk aside, he flopped down on the now single bunk-bed. "I don't like people sleeping close to me," he said in explanation.

"Wow! He's like a real ninja!" The admiration in Flonne's voice was clear.

The demoness rolled her eyes. "Pssh. Showoff. Come on Flonne, let's go mock Laharl while the nurses poke and prod him."

"Okay!" Her voice was eerily cheerful.

"These people are all insane," muttered the martial artist under his breath. "Still, it's better than Nerima. Of course, it'd have to get pretty bad before I start missing Nerima. Like being stuck in a Sailor Moon universe, or a Dragon Ball-" THUNK!

Ranma blinked as a can came seemingly out of nowhere and bonked him on the head. "Huh? Where the heck did that come from? And why do people keep throwing cans at me?"

"Hey Vegeta? I don't think that's the right way to play kick the can."

"Oh shut up Kakarot. You only wish you could kick cans through dimensional time and space and plot holes."

"Why would I wish for that? What use could it possibly be?"

"You'd be surprised," he said mysteriously.

A/N: -cough- -cough- Man is there a bit of dust on this baby. I hope everyone takes this as an offering of my continued existence. Reviews are appreciated, criticism even more. Flames will probably end up on one of my discussion forums somewhere to be analyzed and dissected.

As a shameless plug, anyone who has a COMPLETE Rosario + Vampire or Haruhi Suzumiya fanfic can receive a review from me on my specialized forum. Check out my profile for more information.


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